Interview: Andrew Whitaker, Paradigm Talent Agency

Andrew Whitaker is a New York-based tour marketing agent at Paradigm Talent Agency. With over seven years of experience working in the live industry, he has coordinated large-scale tour marketing efforts for REZZ, Rebelution, Louis The Child, Seven Lions, Khruangbin, and more. 

Read on for his thoughts on how digital is changing touring, why artists need better access to their fan data, and marketing developing vs. established acts.

1. First things first—how did you decide that you wanted to go into the music business?

My interest in the music business began during my time at Syracuse University. During my Junior year, I helped build a street team to promote dance music events on and around campus. I ran that team for about a year and a half before graduating.

Through that experience, I became convinced a career in music was what I wanted to pursue. Running the street team led me to my first opportunity after college, where I was responsible for managing street teams across 13 different markets throughout the Northeast. My pursuit of a career in live music continued from there.

2. What would you say is the defining role of a tour marketing agent today? How does digital factor into it? 

To me, the defining role of a tour marketer is to act as the center point for all efforts related to the marketing and promotion of a campaign.

We’re the ones tasked with making sure each party involved gets the info they need to do their jobs, from management all the way to the label and the publicist. We’re also tasked with communicating with all local or national promoter teams and working with them to build out the campaign in each tour market.

Digital’s role in this process has consistently increased as more marketing initiatives focus on social platforms and other digital mediums. Using a marketing budget effectively really comes down to smart digital practices, ranging from data collection to pixel retargeting.

We work hard to stay informed and up to date on the latest platforms and strategies, so we can be a resource to anyone we work with and continue to follow best practices.

“Using a marketing budget effectively really comes down to smart digital practices, ranging from data collection to pixel retargeting.”

3. Who are some of the most exciting signings you’ve worked with so far?

I’ve been lucky to work with a lot of great up-and-coming acts during my time at Paradigm. Over the last few years, I’ve been able to work on multiple campaigns with a single client and have seen firsthand their growth from one campaign to the next.

This includes acts across all genres, from REZZ, Louis The Child, and SOFI TUKKER in the dance space, to Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and Spafford in the jam space, to Khruangbin, who have succeeded in creating a genre of their own.

Paradigm prides itself on putting an emphasis on providing support to the developing acts on their roster and giving them the resources they need to reach their maximum potential.

4. You have experience with high profile electronic acts, as well as developing acts. How does marketing differ between these two groups?

When starting a new campaign, it’s important to consider things like the room size an artist is playing to anticipate the ad budgets promoters will have.

Developed acts are generally playing larger rooms with more ad money to spend, meaning you have flexibility in how you promote the show. Developing acts playing smaller venues typically have modest budgets, meaning you need to focus efforts on where you anticipate the best return on your spend.

You always want to be mindful of where the artist’s audience is most engaged so you can focus the spends accordingly. While younger audiences typically exist more on social media and can be reached primarily through digital platforms, older audiences tend to be more engaged with traditional media like print, radio, and television.

5. If you could change something about the tour industry to better serve artists, what would it be? 

I’d love to see artists have more control over the data from their fans who are buying tickets to their events. The ability to focus marketing efforts towards fans who have shown a level of interest and intent in past campaigns is incredibly important, so I always try to help collect that data for the artist and their team whenever possible.

This data not only benefits us on the touring side but can also give an artist a better idea of who they should focus on when releasing new music or revealing a new merchandise line. There is a lot of incentive for an artist and their team to own data.

“I’d love to see artists have more control over the data from their fans who are buying tickets to their events.”

6. What do you think the next 5 years in the touring and events industry will look like?

I expect the industry will continue to improve on how it uses digital marketing to target the right fans. It will also continue to develop one-on-one ways for an artist to communicate directly with their fans. We’re seeing a lot of new tech companies develop ways to communicate via text or social media messaging, allowing for a more genuine interaction with fans.

As younger artists come onto the scene and their fans become a larger part of the marketing conversation, we’re going to see new ways to reach them, and we’ll need to work on incorporating those new channels into our strategies.

7. What is one piece of advice you would give a new tour marketing agent? 

Communication is key. Take the time to talk through campaign goals and strategies with the major stakeholders (management, label, etc.) to ensure everyone is on the same page and working together.

There are a lot of resources you can tap into when everyone is on the same page and collaborating. The same rule applies when working with promoter teams.

Take the time to call people and discuss the campaign, how people are feeling, and what they need from you to do their job. At the end of the day, we’re all on the same team trying to get to a sold-out show.

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